Sgt. Frederick "Dick" Howell
Served in the Army Air Force from June 1943 to August
1945. Assigned to the 8th AF, 94th Bomber Group, 333rd Squadron at
Bury St. Edmunds, England as a B17 Tail Gunner.
Dick enlisted right out of high school in June of 1943 and was sent
to basic training at Ft. Knox, KT where he qualified to become an
Air Cadet. However, after arriving in St. Louis, MI to begin flight
training he was informed that the Air Corps no longer needed pilots
and was sent to gunnery school to become a tail gunner.
After meeting his crew in Lincoln, NB and completing final training
in El Paso, TX, he travelled overseas on the USS Aquitania while the
rest of his crew flew their B-17, "Jimbo's Circus," to England. Reunited
with his crew in England he was stationed at Bury St. Edmunds and
completed 25 missions. On a weekend pass to London he experienced
his first buzz bombing.
Although by that time the Luftwaffe had been crippled by the USAAF,
Sgt. Howell and his crew on "Jimbo's Circus" still had to face anti-aircraft
fire. During one mission an 88 millimeter AA shell tore clean through
the main and Tokyo fuel tanks and returned with 150 holes punched
in the B17. On another mission the plane lost its oxygens system and
the crew was almost forced to bail out over Germany. But other than
being hit by a piece of flak in the leg, Howell earned his "lucky
bastards certificate" by surviving the war unscathed.
After leaving the Army Air Corps, Dick attended college and earned
a Masters degree in counseling. He recently married in June 2011.
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